Why do shared hospital rooms not violate HIPAA?

The top comment here is very reasonable, but I still think the application of HIPAA has been a giant mess, reflecting a disdain toward patients similar to everything else in the US healthcare system.

I've ranted on here plenty about how often I've dealt with incorrect bills, and HIPAA plays into that as well. My private information can be shared to "traveling doctors", it can be shared with woefully incompetent contractors who handle billing (or, pretend to), and I received a notice last year that my information had been involved in a data breach and I'm not expecting any compensation. When I had to get a very private and sensitive part of my body imaged, they'll gladly announce to the waiting room my name and what procedure I'm there for, even though it's a rather private and sensitive part of my body - very similar to the shared room concern. I don't care that the people in that room aren't likely to misuse my healthcare information, I don't want them knowing where I found a lump anyway.

And yet HIPAA is often cited to me over the phone as the reason why we can't seem to get incorrect bills figured out for my dependents. It doesn't seem to me that HIPAA actually does much to protect my privacy, but it sure gets used to obfuscate things when there's a problem.

Reasonable precautions. I've been top IT management in healthcare for 8 years, I'm very well versed with this concept. HIPAA isn't "PHI is Eyes Only Secret!" it's "you have to take reasonable precautions to safeguard data from bad actors." I have a wall between the rooms, each room has doors, and when the doc is talking with you, you can't hear a lot from the next room over. We don't have to make walls soundproof and doors sealing airlocks.

One of the easiest questions to ask of someone who shouts “HIPPO violation!” is “covered entity or business associate?”

“Yes, Dunkin Donuts can give you a free donut if you show your Covid vaccination card. No, the donut shop is not a covered entity or a business associate, so they aren’t bound by HARPO.”

My friend spent the night in the hospital recently, for observation.

She didn't sleep a wink. With all the beeping and alarms and periodic checks and procedures. Mostly involving her roommate.

The next morning she was mentally and physically wrecked. the first thing she told the nurse was, "I want to go home so I can get some sleep.

The nurse laughs and replies, "I hear that all the time. Nobody ever sleeps here".

Now that's messed up. Sleep is the great healer. No sleep is the great destroyer. Is this intentional or institutional insanity or what?

I mean why don't they just put strychnine in the water supply while they're at it?

my favourite part of the "reasonable precautions" explanation is the possibility that if you are a known PHI leaker, the hospital might have to segregate you - (or even be able to refuse treatment)

weird